September 12 is United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation. In 2011, the United Nations General Assembly designated September 12 as United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation to be celebrated every year as the Buenos Aires Plan of Action on South-South Cooperation was adopted on this day. Nowadays, South-South cooperation is being carried out widely through regional and continental organizations. Many developing countries are strengthening cooperation with each other in various fields including politics, the economy and culture. In November last year, the 45th Foreign Ministerial Meeting of G-77 adopted a declaration on increasing South-South cooperation and tripartite cooperation in order to overcome the global health crisis and to achieve economic development. And the BRICS Summit, which was held in Beijing in June this year, adopted “Beijing Declaration” on strengthening cooperation with the developing countries in various fields and expanding its member states. Moreover, the Argentinian and Iranian presidents who participated in the summit expressed their intention to join BRICS. Several other countries including Egypt and Algeria also showed interest in joining BRICS. Experts say that BRICS is emerging as an important arena for promoting South-South cooperation and that the potential of South-South cooperation will grow higher when many countries join BRICS. Apart from this, many countries including Cuba, Kenya, Angola, Venezuela, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Congo and Chad are taking practical measures to promote mutual cooperation and collaboration in various fields to cope with global crises such as health crisis. In the past, the socio-economic growth and progress in the developing countries were hindered considerably by the old international economic order devised by the US and the West to serve their interests. If such an international economic order giving preference only to the interests of the US and the West remains unchanged, other countries cannot even defend their sovereign rights, to say nothing of economic development or national prosperity. This is the lesson drawn from the past history. Strengthening South-South cooperation is the way out for the developing countries to abolish the old and unfair international economic order and to cast off political and economic yoke of the US and the West. Today numerous developing countries are strengthening South-South cooperation. Such reality shows that South-South cooperation is the irreversible trend of the times. The great leader Comrade Kim Il Sung had long directed close attention to the development of South-South cooperation, indicated the right course for the developing countries, and had promoted expansion and development of South-South cooperation with sincere efforts and assistance. Our Republic, as in the past so in the future, will make every effort to further strengthen the friendly and cooperative relations with all the developing countries across the world and to establish new international economic relations based on justice, equality and impartiality. PROVIDED TO THE PYONGYANG TIMES | 